Sunday, March 28, 2004

JOHNSON, Tenn. (Mar. 28, 2004) - East Tennessee State's women's tennis team defeated Southern Conference opponent Georgia Southern, 5-2 in a home contest at the ETSU tennis courts Sunday afternoon. The Bucs improve to 12-8 overall, 3-2 in the SoCon, while the Eagles fall to 8-9, 4-4. "Overall, it is a good conference win for us," stated head coach Steve Brooks. "The win puts us in a better position for the SoCon tourney." The Eagles appeared as though they would have the upper hand in the match by securing the doubles point. ETSU's Gemma Halim (Jakarta, Indonesia) and Jessica Irey (Clewiston, Fla.) finished first for the Bucs in the No. 2 slot defeating Amy Pazahanick and Kim Wollet, 8-3. The victory would not be enough to take the point as Courtney McInnis (Waterboro, Maine) and Jewel Aldea (Charleston, S.C.) fell to Krystel Sauvageau and Charlotte Bruneteaux, 8-5 at No. 3. Georgia Southern then claimed the point with a win from Ciara Finucane and Szilvia Zsakay over Sylwia Ziolkowska (Warsaw, Poland) and Mariya Ilyina (Kyiv, Ukraine) in the No. 1 position 8-6. In singles play, ETSU secured points at five positions including Ziolkowska at No. 2 (6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (8-6)), Halim at No. 3 (6-1, 7-5), Irey at No. 4 (7-5, 6-1), Ilyina at No. 5 (7-5, 6-1), and Tatiana Arriaran (Cochabamba, Bolivia) at No. 6 (6-4, 3-6, 6-3). The Eagles point came at the No. 1 slot as Finucane and McInnis battled to a 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 decision. "We started out not playing well in doubles," said Brooks. "Somewhere in singles we regained our confidence and finished the matches for the points." The Buccaneers have a short break before they travel to Chattanooga to match up against Southern Conference opponent UTC on April 3 at 1:00. ETSU 5, Georgia Southern 2 Singles 1. Ciara Finucane (GSU) def. Courtney McInnis (ETSU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 2. Sylwia Ziolkowska (ETSU) def. Charlotte Bruneteaux (GSU) 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (8-6) 3. Gemma Halim (ETSU) def. Krystel Sauvageau (GSU) 6-1, 7-5 4. Jessica Irey (ETSU) def. Szilvia Zsakay (GSU) 7-5, 6-1 5. Mariya Ilyina (ETSU) def. Amy Pazahanick (GSU) 7-5, 6-1 6. Tatiana Arriaran (ETSU) def. Heather Reynolds (GSU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 Order of Finish: 5, 3, 4, 1, 2*, 6 Doubles 1. Finucane/ Zsakay (GSU) def. Ziolkowska/Ilyina (ETSU) 8-6 2. Halim/Irey (ETSU) def. Pazahanick/Wollett (GSU) 8-3 3. Bruneteaux/Sauvageau (GSU) def. McInnis/Aldea (ETSU) 8-5 Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1 *-Clinching point Team Records ETSU: 12-8 overall, 3-2 SoCon Georgia Southern: 8-9 overall, 4-4 SoCon